The governor of the Mexican state of Tamaulipas, Francisco Cabeza de Vaca, tweeted Saturday that hospitals run by the Mexican Institute of Social Security in Reynosa, a city bordering the United States, are too "overcrowded to receive more patients" seeking treatment for coronavirus.
Cabeza de Vaca also used his official Twitter account Friday to urge the Mexican government to establish "greater control of the non-essential flow of people" from the United States into Mexico, noting that the coronavirus situation in neighboring Texas had reached a critical point.
Hours later, Cabeza de Vaca wrote that in the absence of a response from central authorities, his government had intensified efforts "to stop non-essential crossings" at bridges that connect the state of Tamaulipas and the US.
On Thursday, Cabeza de Vaca announced that he had tested positive for Covid-19.
In a video released while in isolation, Cabeza de Vaca said: "Unfortunately, we have seen a great increase in the number of infections in the cities of Reynosa, Nuevo Laredo and Matamoros. I think that we are neglecting many of them, we are relaxing... that is why we are taking extraordinary measures to avoid an increase in the number of infections."